"Growing in the Truth"
Col. 2:1-5
Feb. 21st, 2010
Colossians 1:1-7
COL 2:1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
COL 2:6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Last week I told you that the Apostle Paul was in a fight, a spiritual battle for these young Christians, he uses that same language in our passage this morning, he tells these believers that he is “struggling” for them. He is struggling for them in prayer, that God’s purpose would be realized in their lives.
The English word “agony” comes from the Greek term translated “conflict” in this verse. Paul loved them, and it sounds like he was in distress over them, and the possibility of their relapse into their former sinful ways. Paul did not want them to stagnate, but to mature in their faith.
If you have children, then you understand this word, “agony”. You understand what it means to “struggle” for your children in prayer. Those times when you sense something is going on, those times when you see a rebellious spirit beginning to take hold, those times when they are sick, or when they are hurt by others….you know what I’m talking about….those times when you don’t know what to do, except pray. And when you pray, you struggle for them, you intercede for them, you are going to God on their behalf, you are asking God for their protection, your asking God for your sanity….amen?
Just a couple points I want to make sure that you can take hold of before you leave here this morning…. Just as Paul struggled, and agonized for his church…..
1. Your Pastor Loves you and Prays for you, every week.
I want you to know that I think about everyone of you every week. I don’t just think about you, I pray for you specifically. God has called me to be a pastor….. But YOU are the reason I stay here….. I can carry out God’s call on my life just about anywhere, preaching the Word of God. But this morning, I want you to know….. I choose you, I choose to pray for you, I choose to share my life, my family, my passion for Jesus Christ with you. I want to win Clarksville hand in hand with you.
On Tuesday of this week, I am going to stand before the District Advisory board and tell them the same thing. We may not be where we thought we would be, but we are not done! And more importantly, God is not done…. Amen.
After what I heard last night at Celebrate Recovery, God whispered….that is what we are all about! Winning people by loving them just as they are. But it’s more than just getting people to accept Jesus, that’s just the 1st step, we need to help our people grow, learn, develop as Christ Followers, Fully equipped and ready to serve, growing in their maturity, in their desire to serve God.
Look what Paul says in verse 2: 2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ..
As your pastor, I pray that you will be encouraged in your heart…. Encouraged in your Faith… encouraged in to keep digging into God’s Word. We need to encourage each other to not be satisfied with where we are spiritually, but to keep moving forward, stepping out of our comfort zone, keep pushing our faith into new areas.
I’m having fun coaching these 6th grade boys in basketball. To be honest, I didn’t think I would ever say that after last year. Coaching girls is so much easier, they actually listen. Coaching boys is like herding cats, have you ever tried that? We are doing pretty good this year, last year we took our medicine and only one 3 games….This year we are undefeated. My challenge now is to make the boys understand that we still need to improve and keep growing, because the other teams are chasing us and they will catch us if we just keep doing what we’ve been doing.
I could have sent the other coach a thank you note, because right off the bat, he started trapping us all over the court, we hadn’t seen that all year. So I take a time out, and I get to say, “See, that’s exactly what I told you.” We got to keep on our toes.
The same is true in the spiritual realm. We need to keep pushing for new ground, for new understanding of God’s Word. We need to be studying together in our life groups, especially right now as we don’t have Sunday school, we need to be looking at God’s Word and applying it to our lives in our Life Groups. How many of you really enjoy studying on your own? Some of you might, but if I was to administer the truth syrup and ask you how often, how consistent are you studying God’s Word on your own, maybe it wouldn’t be as good as we would like. We need each other. We need to hear each other’s victory’s and each other’s defeats. As Iron sharpens Iron, we need to come together and let God’s Word wash over us.
Paul said that he wanted them to be encouraged in heart….and secondly, he wanted them to be united in love. The Greek word means “knit together” in love (agape).
The truth is there are different kinds of love. But there is only one kind of love that will knit people together, and that is Agape love, the Love of God. True love comes from God himself, and it’s this True Love for one another that is the motivating force that binds God’s people together. It’s the Love that God gives that allows people to forgive. It’s the Love that God gives that allows people to give unselfishly to others.
It’s the Love that God gives that allows people to face persecution and trials and not flinch.
It’s the Love of God that will conquer evil in the end. We are to demonstrate that love, we can’t do it on our own, you can’t fake it, it’s not within you to produce on your own. This love must come through a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
I can tell you that I love you with all my heart. Not because I have some special ability. Not because everyone in here is easy to love.
JN 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
I can love you, and you can love each other because we serve a God who has loved us all before the beginning of time. God’s plan of salvation was in place before the creation of this old world. God’s love in us should be a mark on us, it should be a distinctive quality that anyone who spends any amount of time with us at all, they should sense something different about us…..Him.
When people are around you….what do they sense? Do they sense that Agape Love, God’s Love?
How is God going to grow the New Hope Church? It won’t be because of our fancy restroom facilities will it? It will be because we will Love them beyond their ability to figure out why we love them….it’s a God thing.
There is something else Paul wanted for his church, it’s something that as Christians we need..it’s a must….
2. To Know Christ completely so that we won’t be deceived… v 2-4
Just learning the basics of Christianity is not enough. It’s important, but you must be willing to move on.
Teaching math is really teaching me a lot about life. When you get behind in your math skills, either because you just don’t get it, or because you just don’t think it’s important, it’s almost impossible to move forward. If you have ever struggled with math, you probably have a good understanding of what I’m talking about.
When I get a student in the 6th grade, we don’t teach multiplication, but just about everything we do requires you to know multiplication. So if you come into my 6th grade math class and you don’t know your multiplication tables, your going to struggle all year long, and get farther behind. So parents, work with your kids every night if you have to!!
In our Christian walk….it’s not like math, aren’t you glad! God wants to Teach You. You have a teacher, the best teacher you could ever ask for, The Holy Spirit is waiting to teach us through the Word of God, through the Preaching of His Word, through those conversations and discussion we have with other Christians…. The Holy Spirit will teach us in many different ways as we open ourselves up to His instruction….the key is we need to be willing to learn, willing to listen, willing to be available to hear from Him.
This last week was a good week for me teaching math. We had some of our toughest lessons we have had all year. Pre-Algebra for 6th graders is not easy for their brains to comprehend. But, I slowed down, and I did every problem with them on the board, I made them help me, one by one….I made them write everything that I wrote down, they had to write down in their journals….what was fun was when I heard…. “Hey, I think I’m getting this…”
What’s even more fun is when I get to talk to you and hear you tell me what God is teaching you, what you are learning, how God is challenging you in new areas. He is the Master Teacher, it’s not a matter of you getting it…because He will make sure you understand….the real question is….are you listening? Are you giving Him your attention?
Why do we need to keep growing? The truth is simply this, If you don’t keep growing in your knowledge of Christ, there is a real good chance that you will be deceived in some way. The Apostle Paul was concerned that the Colossians were being deceived with “enticing words” or “fine-sounding arguments” or “persuasive speech”. The Bible is clear, that during the last days, there will be many false teachers, spinning their fine tuned words, twisting the scriptures just enough to cause unsuspecting followers to fall into error.
It’s interesting that when this letter was being written, it was an age when rhetoric was emphasized as a sign of an educated person.
rhet·o·ric
1 : the art of speaking or writing effectively:
2 the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion
I would say we live in a time when people can be memorized by the rhetoric of politicians, those on the radio or TV. But let’s be clear. Just because someone can say something properly, and with emotion, does not mean that what they are saying is the truth.
So we need to keep growing in the truth, so that we will know the truth when we hear it, and on the flip side, we will also know error when we hear it.
You know how they train bank employees to find counterfeit bills don’t you? They don’t give them all the different fakes they have found. They make them study the real thing, and only the real thing. That way they will know a fake from the real thing.
I’m challenging you this morning to only look at the Real Thing. You allow the Holy Spirit to teach you, to move you beyond where you are in your faith. What you know today won’t be enough for tomorrow.
A couple of things to remember:
You Pastor Loves you…
Be a person who is marked by God’s Love….
Allow the Holy Spirit to be your Teacher…
Only Look at the Real Thing….Jesus Christ.
